USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume III > Part 34
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463
BENJAMIN B. WILSON.
yellow fever into that city. Returning home invalided, he was, after a brief rest, placed in charge of the "Stanton," one of the large hos- pitals in Washington, which he conducted with signal success, as evidenced by the fact that it was one of the last to be closed. While conducting the Stanton, Doctor Wilson was appointed by the Secretary of War a member of the Board to examine veteran medical officers for commissions in Hancock's Veteran First Corps. On the retirement of Colonel Dougherty he became President of the Board, and later, on the organization of the corps, its Medical Director. An interesting piece of history may here be related. Doctor Wilson found his former preceptor in a subordinate position as an acting assistant surgeon under contract in the Lincoln Hospital. He immediately invited him to appear before the Board, arranging that President-Surgeon Dougherty should alone conduct the entire examination. As a result Doctor Betton promptly received from the President his commission as ranking Surgeon of the corps. When, in 1866, the regimental flags were returned to the custody of the State, General Hancock invited Surgeon Wilson to serve again upon his staff in the parade and ceremonies of the day, in graceful recognition of their previous relations. He was mustered out with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and returned to Philadelphia, resuming his medical practice. It is especially noteworthy that his voluminous accounts with the various departments of the Government were adjusted in two days, so accurately had they been kept.
Doctor Wilson married Mara Louisa, eldest daughter of L. Re- bola, a prominent merchant and former officer in the Italian contingent of the army of Napoleon. Her mother was a member of the noted Francis family of Boston, and a first cousin of Lydia Maria Child. She died in 1895. Four children, two sons and two daughters, were born to them. The younger son, Dr. Arthur M. Wilson, Doctor of Philosophy and of Medicine (University of Pennsylvania), died after a short but brilliant career. The elder son, Samuel, also died in his early man- hood.
H. AUGUSTUS WILSON.
F EW Philadelphia physicians have had a more useful and conspicuous career than H. AUGUSTUS WILSON, one of the city's foremost medical educators, who was born in Philadelphia, September 4, 1853. Henry H. and Mary E. Wilson were his parents. A long line of illustrious physicians on both sides inclines one to believe in hereditary tendencies. His paternal grandfather was John Wilson, M.D., one of the most famous physicians of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Uriah Collins Lewis, well known in the northern part of the State as one of the leading physicians of Hazle- ton. The father of the latter was Dr. Uriah Lewis, widely known during the early days of the century. Dr. H. Augustus Wilson was named for his cousin, Dr. Augustus Wilson, of Santiago, Cuba. He is also a nephew of Elias E. Wilson, M.D., a resident of Paris, France. Doctor Wilson's early education was acquired in the public schools of Philadelphia and in the Friends' Central High School. He then spent two years at the iron blast-furnaces owned by his uncle, J. Gillingham Fell. Here he gained both physical and mental strength to take up the study of medicine, which he began, under the preceptorship of Dr. Richard J. Levis, in 1876. He made such progress that, although he did not matriculate at Jefferson Medical College until 1877, he was graduated on March 19, 1879. The same year he left this institution he was made Ophthalmic and Aural Surgeon to St. Mary's Hospital. A year later he was appointed Pathologist to the Presbyterian Hospital. While at work here, making a post-mortem examination, his left hand received a wound that nearly proved fatal. His health was so much impaired from its effects that he went to Europe for eighteen months. This trip removed all trace of the injury and gave him
464
Houquahis Wilson
The Rembrandt Eng Co. Plul.
465
H. AUGUSTUS WILSON.
opportunity to make a thorough study of the hospitals of Vienna, Berlin and Paris. During the years 1879, 1880, 1881 and 1882, Doctor Wilson was Quiz-Master on Surgery in the Jefferson Quiz Association, and he delivered courses on bandaging and fracture-dressing at the Philadelphia School of Anatomy, an institution made famous by the teaching of D. Hayes Agnew, W. W. Keen, R. J. Levis, and many others, who there developed their teaching talents. In 1882 Doctor Wilson was appointed Assistant Surgeon, ranking as First Lieutenant on the Staff of Col. Theodore E. Wiedersham, First Regiment National Guards of Pennsylvania, from which position he resigned one year later, upon going to Europe. In 1885 he was elected Pro- fessor of Mechanical Surgery in the Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for Graduates in Medicine, and was made Secretary of the then com- bined Faculty and Trustees. Upon the resignation of Dr. C. B. Nancrede, in 1888, he was elected to succeed that eminent instructor in the chair of General and Orthopedic Surgery, which position he held until September, 1897, when his resignation was accepted by the Trustees and Faculty, and he was unanimously elected the Emeritus Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, the Board of Trustees and Faculty each adopting resolutions in recognition of Doctor Wilson's eminent work, not only as an instructor, but in the financial management of the institution. Doctor Wilson was elected Clinical Lecturer on Ortho- pedic Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College on March 11, 1891, and on April 12, of the following year, was promoted to the post of Clinical Professor of the same subject. Upon the organization of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Alumni Association he was elected its President. The graduating class of 1879 was involved in a struggle between the country and city members, which culminated in the con- test for Class President. Doctor Wilson was nominated by the city forces, which were decidedly in the minority, but was defeated by the narrow margin of only five votes.
During the three years following graduation, Doctor Wilson was Clinical Assistant in the Medical Department at Jefferson Hospital, under Prof. J. M. DaCosta ; in the Surgical Department, under Prof. S. D. Gross, and in the Eye Department, under Prof. William Thomson. He delivered the first course of lectures on Orthopedic 111 .- 30
466
H. AUGUSTUS WILSON.
Surgery ever given in the Woman's Medical College of Penn- sylvania, in 1889, when he was elected Clinical Lecturer on Ortho- pedic Surgery, the following year succeeding to the post of Clinical Professor, a position which he held for five years. In 1890 he was elected Consulting Orthopedic Surgeon to the Philadelphia Lying-in Charity, and also to the Kensington Hospital for Women. In October, 1880, Doctor Wilson announced his recent discovery of Soluble Com- pressed Tablets, a new method of preparing medicines for hypodermic use. Doctor Wilson also originated a metal splint for injuries of the hand ; a spiral-wire drainage tube; a clasp for holding a tourniquet ; a machine for making plaster-of-paris bandages; a surgical bandage roller, and a very large number of surgical instruments. In addition, he has devised a number of orthopedic appliances of great useful- ness. Among the most widely known are the portable door-extension apparatus for applying suspension in the treatment of diseases of the spine; a steel brace for diseases of the spine ; an ankle brace; a power- ful lever apparatus for the correction of club-foot; a flat-foot corrector, and an extension apparatus for hip diseases. All of these inventions have been freely given to the medical profession without patent or restriction, and have been extensively adopted throughout the world. He is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; a member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society ; the Medical Society of Pennsylvania ; the American Medical Association and the Philadel- phia Academy of Surgery. He is a Fellow of the American Ortho- pedic Association, of which he was its First Vice-President in 1893. Ursinus College, in 1894, conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
Doctor Wilson was married on November 16, 1882, to Judith Stoutenburgh Davids, daughter of Hugh and Helen Bradford Davids. They have two children, Henry Davids Wilson and Hugh Augustus Wilson.
Manhood for
ALAN WOOD, Jr.
RON, in its various forms, from the time it is dug from the earth until it becomes a valuable article of com- merce, is the product which furnishes Pennsylvania with some of its greatest industries. It forms a very important and valuable article of commerce, and, from the mines to the smelter, and then through various processes to the manufacturer and seller, it affords ingenuity and invention unlimited opportunities of development. The Keystone State has become world- famous in the strength of its iron industry, which forms one of its greatest resources, and among the men who have been chiefly instru- mental in carrying out this advancement is Alan Wood, Jr., the subject of this biography. Born and reared in the city of Philadelphia, the principal distributing point for iron and its familiar products, he has, through his keen knowledge of trade requirements and his enterprising efforts, proved to be a most potential factor in the State's commercial and industrial progress.
ALAN WOOD, JR., was born in the city of Philadelphia on July 6, 1834. His father was Alan Wood, of Philadelphia, one of the pioneers in the iron business in the United States, who built the Conshohocken Rolling Mills, and afterwards owned the Delaware Iron Works, five miles west of Wilmington, Delaware. His son, the subject of this review, originated, devised and supervised the building of the Schuyl- kill Iron Works at Conshohocken. The first mill was erected during the dullest season of the iron industry in the country (1857), yet it proved a thorough success from the start. In 1870 Mr. Wood's father retired from the business, leaving him in entire charge. Mr. Wood was educated in the Central Institute in this city, under the preceptor- ship of Dr. A. L. Kennedy, afterwards Chief Professor of the
467
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ALAN WOOD, JR.
Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania. At the age of seventeen years Mr. Wood took charge of the Delaware Iron Works, and afterwards assumed, before he had attained his majority, the management of the Schuylkill Iron Works, then just completed. This was in the fifties, and at that time but from one thousand to two thousand tons were produced per annum. He remained as Manager and Superintendent of these works until 1876, and designed and superintended the erection of all the additions and improvements to the machinery. He has given his special attention to and has invented and patented several pro- cesses highly approved of by eminent and practical machinists. Offices, shops, gas works, pumping machinery and large engines, rolls and furnaces have been designed and erected under his supervision. In connection with other citizens, in 1872, he was instrumental in having the water-works erected to supply the borough of Conshohocken with water, and was appointed one of the managers of the same.
Mr. Wood made his first entrance into public life when he was elected to the Centennial Congress in 1875, declining, however, a sec- ond term. In 1873 he succeeded in establishing the First National Bank of Conshohocken, with a capital of $150,000, and remained for years the President of that institution. Amassing a very comfortable fortune from his steady adherence to his various business interests, Mr. Wood determined to devote a few years of leisure to travel, meanwhile building up a rural retreat that should be second to none of its class. He went abroad and studied the customs of other nationalities, more as a matter of pastime than as a matter of business. In this way he added to his knowledge of men and things in a manner that could not possibly be gleaned from books. Returning home, he built for himself and wife a handsome resi- dence on one of the most magnificent estates in Pennsylvania. This is situated on a large farm which he purchased in Mont- gomery County. In 1888 Mr. Wood retired from the active man- agement of his business, which had been incorporated six years previous. He still possesses a passive interest in the same. Mr. Wood is one of the Board of Directors of the Union League; a mem- ber of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Mortgage and Trust Company; a member of the Board of Directors of the Haverford
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ALAN WOOD, JR.
Land Improvement Company, which is popularly known as the Haver- ford Cricket Club, and is a member of the Centennial Congress. He was elected as a Republican in a Democratic district by a large majority.
Mr. Wood was married on October 20, 1861, to Mary H. Yerkes, of Montgomery County. He was for many years a close personal friend of Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President under President Lincoln. He possesses a modest, unassuming character and is a man of strong personality and liberal ideas. His home life is exceedingly pleasant and attractive, while his interest in the industrial development of the State leads him to enjoy a participation in all matters pertaining thereto.
HENRY G. YOUNG.
NSTANCES of young men of comparatively lowly birth and common school education who have risen to places of honor and trust in the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania are not rare. Courage, vigor, determination and ambition have elevated many men in spite of obstacles, and placed them on the high road to success. One of the young men possessing these qualifications is Henry G. Young, the subject of this biography. It was a struggle for him from early life until after he had attained his majority. The brickyard and iron foundry are not con- sidered particularly attractive places for boys in their teens, but it was while working at the making of bricks and the moulding of iron that he completed his book learning. Other education of great prac- tical value came to him later in life, and he never failed to take advan- tage of the opportunities presented to him for the acquirement of knowledge or the reaping of benefit from knowledge thus obtained. His courage allowed nothing to stand in the way of his ambition, and his vigor and determination not only quickly brought to him success, but won for him fame and the admiration of those with whom he came in contact.
HENRY G. YOUNG was born in the city of Reading, December 28, 1838. His parents were Jacob Young and Catharine (Henninger) Young, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, and both of whom are now dead. Mr. Young had very little opportunity to acquire a good schooling, but of such as was afforded him he took advantage. At the age of sixteen he was sent to the public schools of his city, and it was only at these places of learning that he acquired his schooling. Before the fifteenth anniversary of his birth, Mr. Young was required to go into his father's brickyard at Reading, assisting at that business,
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HENRY G. YOUNG.
and for three years was thus employed. He was anxious to learn the iron-making trade, and, finally, in his eighteenth year, induced his father to apprentice him in that branch of industry. He entered the moulding shop of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company at Reading, in 1856, and firmly encountered all the set-backs and discour- agements that fell to the lot of apprentices in that day. For three years he served in the shops, receiving for his services three dollars per week and getting a good knowledge of the moulding trade. Upon attaining his majority, in 1859, he left Reading and went under instruc- tion as a junior moulder in the great shops of Merrick & Son, which were located at Fifth Street and Washington Avenue, Philadelphia. There he remained one year, emerging from that place thoroughly well informed in every branch of his trade and fully competent to perform any kind of work he was called upon to do.
Mr. Young returned to Reading, where he worked at moulding for a time. He was not interested in politics, but his strong person- ality soon made him prominent in that field. He quickly became a power in Berks County and, holding the good-will of the voters, it was not long before he had been elevated to office. In whatever position he was placed by the votes of the people, he discharged every duty with fidelity and entire satisfaction to those whom he served. While still working at his trade, Mr. Young was urged on several occasions to permit the use of his name for office, but he declined until 1887, when he was nominated for and elected to the post of School Con- troller. At the end of his term he was urged to accept renomination, but refused. He had gone into the retail coal business in Reading in 1867, and his increasing trade required much of his time. He was, however, deeply interested in the social and political side of Reading, and took an especially active interest in the workings of charity. He contributed of his time liberally, and as a Director of the Reading Relief Association, popularly known as the "Soup Society," has made frequent contributions in money to further the good work of the organ- ization. In 1894 Mr. Young sold out his stock in coal and transferred the business to his son, Frederick, who had for some years assisted him in managing it, still conducting the coal yard at the same place. For twenty-seven years consecutively Mr. Young had successfully been
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HENRY G. YOUNG.
engaged in that line of business, and in the same section of his city. Since 1895 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Building and Loan Association, and in several other organizations he has taken an active interest. He is a prominent Mason and, since 1894, has been Treasurer of the joint Board of Trus- tees in the Masonic Hall at Reading.
It was not until 1896 that Mr. Young was selected to fill the important office which he now occupies, that of City Treasurer of the city of Reading, which is one of great responsibility. This Mr. Young fills with the entire confidence of the people. On June 8, 1868, Mr. Young and Hetty A. Rahn, daughter of Elizabeth and John Rahn, a prominent farmer near Kutztown, Pennsylvania, were married. Mr. and Mrs. Young are the parents of seven children, two of whom are dead and five living.
0-
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES VOLUME III.
PAGE
ALLMAN, HERBERT D.
I
ALTER, JOHN JOSEPH
4
ANTELO, ANTHONY J.
7
ARNOLD, WILLIAM C. .
IO
ARUNDEL, GEORGE W.
13
ATHERTON, GEORGE W. .
16
RAUM, CHARLES .
19
BERENS, JOSEPH .
22
BETZ, JOHN F.
25
BOHANNAN, THOMAS
28
BONEY, MORRIS .
31
BOYER, SOLOMON B.
34
BREWSTER, F. CARROLL.
37
BROOKE, FRANCIS MARK
40
BUNN, WILLIAM MALCOLM
43
O AMERON, J. DONALD 4.6
CAMERON, SIMON
49
CAMPBELL, JOHN MARIE
53
CASSIDY, MICHAEL J.
56
CHILDS, LOUIS M. .
59
CLYMER, ROBERT S ..
62
CROSSAN, KENNEDY .
65
CROZER, SAMUEL A.
68
CRUICE, ROBERT B. .
CURREN, PATRICK .
74
CURTIN, ROLAND G. .
77
DECOURSEY, SAM'L GERALD 80
DENLINGER, WILLIAM H. . . 83
DICKSON, T. SPEER .
86
DURHAM, ISRAEL W.
89
DWIGHT, HENRY EDWIN
92
PAGE
E
ARLE, GEORGE H., JR.
95
EDWARDS, E. B. .
99
EGLE, WILLIAM HENRY .
IO2
F
"AHY, THOMAS A .. .
105
FETTEROLF, ABRAHAM D. . .
108
FETTEROLF, ADAM H ..
III
FIRTH, FRANK J.
114
FLAGG, STANLEY G ..
II7
FOCHT, BENJAMIN K.
120
Fow, JOHN H.
123
FRENCH, MORRIS S ..
I26
G
AGE, GEORGE F.
129
GILLETT, ALFRED S.
132
GILLINGHAM, J. E.
135
GOBIN, JOHN P. S.
138
GRADY, JOHN C.
141
GRAHAM, GEORGE S.
144
GRIER, MATTHEW JAMES
147
GRIST, BENJAMIN W.
150
H
ALL, GEORGE W. .
153
HANIFEN, JOHN E.
156
HARTRANFT, FRANK A ..
159
HARTRANFT, LINN
162
HAUPT, HERMAN
165
HAUPT, LEWIS M ..
168
HEISLER, WILLIAM H.
171
HENRY, DAVID FORD
174
HESS, HENRY .
177
HEWSON, ADDINELL
180
HIMMELREICH, W. D.
183
HOLLINSHEAD, CHARLES S.
.
I86
473
474
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES IN VOLUME III.
HOPKINS, ALBERT COLE.
189
HUHN, GEORGE A. 192
HULSIZER, GREENE R. 194
HUNSICKER, CHARLES .
197
ONES, HORACE C ..
200
J JONES, RICHMOND LEGH 203
EYSER, WILLIAM H ..
206
K
KOBLER, GEORGE HENRY
.
209
KYNETT, ALPHA J.
2 12
L
ADNER, ALBERT HENRY . 215
LARZELERE, NICHOLAS H. . . 218
LENAHAN, JOHN T.
221
LEONHARDT, ARNO
224
LEWIS, SANFORD CLARENCE
227
LINDERMAN, ROBERT P. 230
LINDSAY, GEORGE B.
233
LOMBAERT, HENRY W.
235
LUKENS, JOHN BATES .
238
M ANDERSON, WILLIAM A .. 241
MARSDEN, MARK W. . 244
MARTIN, SYLVESTER H. .
247
MASSEY, G. BETTON
250
MATHUES, WILLIAM L.
253
MERRICK, EDWIN A.
256
MILLER, GEORGE W. 259
MOHR, CHARLES
262
MOON, REUBEN O.
265
MORRIS, ALEXANDER G.
268
MORSE, EDWIN F.
271
MORTON, THOMAS J.
274
MOYER, HENRY G. .
277
MUHLENBERG, W. F.
280
MULLER, GUSTAVUS A.
282
MUNYON, JAMES M. .
285
MºC ARRELL, S. J. M. 288
MCCARTHY, HENRY J. 291
MCCAULEY, LEVI G. . 2 94
MCCONNELL, WILLIAM C. . 297
MCCREA, JAMES .
300
MCFADDEN, CHARLES .
302
MCFETRIDGE, JOHN R.
305
McMANUS, PATRICIUS.
308
MCWADE, ROBERT M.
311
NEAD, WILLIAM J ..
314
NEALE, HENRY M.
317
NORTH, CALVIN B.
320
NORTH, H. MCALISTER
323
NUNEZ, HENRY
326
'CALLAGHAN, M. J.
329
OSBORNE, EDWIN S.
332
PATTON, EDWARD W.
335
PEARSON, ALFRED L.
338
PIPER, WILLIAM H.
342
PITCAIRN, HUGH
345
PORTER, CHARLES A.
348
POTTER, EDWARD E.
351
R EDHEFFER, WILLIAM H. . 354
RIDGWAY, JOHN J.
357
ROBINSON, CHARLES . .
360
ROWLAND, JONATHAN .
362
SAMUEL, FRANK .
365
SANDERS, DALLAS .
368
SCHISSLER, A. J.
371
SCHNURE, HOWARD DAVIS
374
SCHOLES, JOHN
377
SCHUTTE, LOUIS
380
SEGAL, ADOLPH
383
SHOEMAKER, BENJAMIN H.
386
SMITHMAN, JOHN B. .
389
SNOWDEN, A. LOUDON
392
SNYDER, WILLIAM P.
395
SOLIS, ISAAC N ..
398
STEIGERWALD, ANDREW S.
401
STEINMETZ, JACOB L.
404
PAGE
PAGE
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES IN VOLUME III.
475
PAGE
STEVENS, JOHN S .. .
407
STINSON, CHARLES H ..
410
"ELLER, BENJAMIN F.
413
T
TELLER, JOSEPH R.
416
TENNIS, EDGAR A.
419
TERRY, HENRY C .. .
422
THOLE, FRANCIS H. .
425
THOMAS, JOEL .
428
THOMPSON, THOMAS M.
431
TUSTIN, ERNEST LEIGH
434
ARE, GEORGE A.
437
PAGE W ANNER, PETER D. . 440
WARREN, GEORGE W. .
443
WATERHOUSE, ARCHIBALD N. .
446
WEGER, C. THEIS .
449
WEGER, FRANK LOUIS
452
WHITMER, ROBERT F.
455
WHITMER, WILLIAM .
458
WILSON, BENJAMIN B.
461
WILSON, H. AUGUSTUS
464
WOOD, ALAN, JR. .
467
Y
YOUNG, HENRY G .. 470
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